A group of downtown St. Joseph business owners will meet next week to talk about the new paid parking rules coming to part of the downtown area starting this summer.
The city has approved a paid parking program, on the west side of Main Street only, from May 15 to September 15. However, the businesses nearby say the decision was made without enough input from them.
Lisa Miller is the owner of Forever Clean Soap Works, Inc. She tells us, “It feels like we’re all being ignored.”
“And it’s very insulting that they didn’t even offer free passes to the businesses down here,” Miller said. “The businesses are what make downtown St. Joe downtown St. Joe. I mean, without the businesses, you wouldn’t have quite the tourist season that happens every summer.”
Miller says she’s at her shop all day, and if she were to pay to park near it each day during the paid parking season, it would cost her $1,200. She says no teenage employee will be able to afford that, and she doesn’t feel they should have to park on the east side of Main Street and walk.
“I wouldn’t want my teenage employees to walk all the way from the very first block, which is where I’m located, all the way to the courthouse at night by themselves.”
Miller says downtown business owners are meeting April 24 to discuss what further actions they could take. She’s hoping to convince the city to offer free parking passes to affected businesses that they could hand out to employees. As for tourists from Chicago, she says they’d pay without blinking an eye.
The meeting next Thursday is intended just for downtown business owners.
